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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—A

Achilles' Tendon

A strong sinew running along the heel to the calf of the leg. The tale is that Thetis took her son Achilles by the heel, and dipped him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable. The water washed every part, except the heel covered with his mother's hand. It was on this vulnerable point the hero was slain; and the sinew of the heel is called, in consequence, tendo Achillis. A post-Homeric story

The Heel of Achilles

The vulnerable or weak point in a man's character or of a nation. (See above.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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